Straumann: Implanting success

In this year’s series of partner interviews for the EFP newsletter, we are looking at how leadership in dentistry is going to play a vital and pivotal role in the years to come and how partners are ensuring that they are at the forefront of developing leadership that works.

In this interview we talk to Andreas Utz, head of Implantology Business Unit at The Straumann Group.

Straumann was one of the diamond sponsors of EuroPerio11, and for Andreas Utz, it was an amazing congress, with enormously encouraging signs. “I was very impressed and I have to say I loved to see a lot of young clinicians. It seems that the generation shift is working somewhat well for EuroPerio.”

Capturing the next generation’s enthusiasm is a key leadership goal. “We had hands on workshops on some regenerative products fitting the EuroPerio overarching theme and I think we had one of the most successful corporate forum formats that we ever had as a company at a Congress,” explains Andreas Utz. “I think there were 1200 participants in our corporate forum. The room was completely packed, sold out, which was really impressive and a big success.”

Straumann celebrated 30 years of Emdogain, a dental product used to promote the regeneration of lost periodontal tissue and improve wound healing in the mouth which comes in the form of a gel.  It can literally save someone losing a tooth. A member of the Swedish inventor team came on stage to celebrate, watched by the next generation of periodontists - Dr. Stina Gestrelius.  A true pioneer and leader in her day!

Old meets new! 

Beyond EuroPerio, Straumann shows excellent leadership and innovation in the world of implantology. “I think what is really new and exciting is our digital ecosystem that in the end helps the clinician simplify and smoothen workflows, making it more effortless for them.”  He goes on enthusiastically: “If people need to spend less time on clinical workflows, procedures, preparation that needs to be done, the more time they can focus on what really matters most, the patient!”

Then there’s Straumann’s new generation of implants called IECXEL.

Andreas explains its brilliant simplicity. “Before we had a great variety of implants with different connections and toolkits needed and now, we simplified it, so you have a range of implants with an unparalleled variety, yet you have only one toolkit, one connection, and it's simplifying complexity for practice staff and clinicians significantly.” This means that wherever you're putting the implant in the mouth, whichever implant you choose, you use just one connection, with the same prosthetic components and surgical kit. No distinction, just simplicity.

It isn’t surprising, perhaps, that Andreas Utz talks about physical products, after all that is what Straumann is famous for, but what about “human investment”, leading the next generation of professionals? “I think it's for me the most emotional topic that that I feel very strongly about. There's a lot of stuff with our partner organization, the ITI, that we are doing to encourage young clinicians to get a great education in the field of implantology and to learn from experienced clinicians to build a successful future. That's number one. Number two is promoting female leadership in our industry. Over 10 years ago, we created a circle that we call Women in Implant Dentistry. So the abbreviation is WIN.  This community is really dedicated to encourage young females to go into the implant industry, and ultimately also to get on stage.”

Andreas Utz says that leadership is also about business acumen.“We know that young clinicians are struggling to becoming successful entrepreneurs. They want to be good leaders; they want to engage with patients; they want to create a successful practice for the next 40 years. But there is more than clinical stuff. It's about business skills and we have a lot of countries that are engaging these young guys, helping them to learn from others how to run as an entrepreneur and as a leader and what you need for a successful practice.”

Straumann facilitates and sponsors these initiatives to bring on the next generation. What about the general public? Educating them is easy if you make toothpaste or mouthwash because we all use those products. Implants though? Oh absolutely yes, espouses Utz!

“Helping patients to understand that having an implant is an option is important. Sadly today it's a lottery as most practices don’t offer an implant as a choice. I'm not saying every patient is an implant patient but at least we should make patients aware there is this option.” Andreas is adamant about this: “The key thing is the long-term benefit of an implant to the patient over a period of 20 to 25 years?  A three-unit bridge might be more affordable for the patient short term, but you start to sacrifice healthy teeth that has long term costs and we don't calculate this in.” Recent studies, like from a group in Geneva clearly show the benefit of having a single tooth implant versus a 3-unit bridge.”

Andreas Utz sums it up nicely. “I believe the future will be in continuous innovation, but education of young clinicians and education of patients will make sure more and more patients can benefit from implant treatments.”